Atlas T-case swap leads to catastrophic failure

[jgb]

Vehicle:

96 Ford F150 4x4

Swapped Borg Warner 1546 for an Atlas ll

What happened:

Was on my way home, drove about 15 miles (was driving about 50 MPH on a paved road) and heard a loud bang and the truck started shaking violently. Pulled off the side of the road and found a crack in my transmission bell housing running about 270 degrees around the bell housing. See below pics.

Was offered a tow, insured transmission was in neutral and both T-case shifters were in neutral. Was towed about 1/2 mile and the truck started shaking violently and another bang with a metal sound. Signaled the tower to stop, looked under the truck and the rear drive shaft snapped. See below pics.

Has anyone seen or heard about this happening with a new Atlas? What I see is a broken transmission and a broken drive shaft and in the middle is the T-case.

 

[jgb]

Additional info.

The correct spacer was used connecting to transmission. See below pic.

The clocking was close to stock but not perfect. See below pic.

I do have a concern about the front driveline, it is now on an angle. See below pic. Both drivelines were parallel with the stock T-case.

 

[bryson]

Something had to have been bound up in the t-case. Did the outputs spin freely with the t-case in neutral with the d-shafts disconnected? Did you verify that it shifted through the gears before getting in and driving around? Are you positive that it isn't jammed up on the trans output shaft?

Is it full of oil? Looks like it in the pic... just checkin'.

The scenario you described sounds like it was oil starved, or there was too much preload on a bearing, and a bearing locked up in the t-case.


I don't think the front driveshaft angle would be a problem unless it spins in 2wd...

 

[jgb]

Something had to have been bound up in the t-case. Did the outputs spin freely with the t-case in neutral with the d-shafts disconnected?

The morning I took the pictures, all sticks were in neutral and the front and rear out put shafts spun freely.

Later that morning, the installer said he could not shift either Atlas shifter back into high or low.

Did you verify that it shifted through the gears before getting in and driving around?

I personally did not but the installer prior to me picking up the truck drove it around a bit and said it was shifting through the gears.

Are you positive that it isn't jammed up on the trans output shaft?

I DO have a concern here, the installer DID say that it was a tight fit and he had to struggle mounting and mating it up. He also mentioned that he had to drill out a or some mounting holes and tap them, that the holes were too shallow for the mounting bolts. Which COULD mean that the transmission output shaft WAS jammed in.....

From the Atlas site:

The most common mistake is having a transmission output shaft
that is too long or does not have long enough splines. A shaft that
has either one of these problems can bottom out or not engage
enough into the Atlas input. Most times, this interference is not
noticed until the transfer case is being installed. Most installers
get the transfer case near to the mating flange, but find they are
lacking roughly 1/16 of an inch between the two gear boxes coming
together. They push, pull & rotate to mate the two boxes,
then decide to put the nuts on the stud of the transfer case to pull
the units together. The transfer case, whether being a 2 speed or
4 speed, is now damaged: the 2 speed having a broken front
housing snap ring, and the cage needle bearing of the 4 speed
having been pre-loaded. Running the units in this state will cause complete destruction of the unit. In short,
both units will need disassembly to fix the problem.
The easiest fix is prevention. If the gear boxes do not slide together completely when installing, remove the transfer
case and measure the shaft lengths. Refer back to this application guide to the input section for spline engagement
lengths. The Atlas is a precision built transfer case. DO NOT FORCE TOGETHER even if it’s a small gap between​

the transmission and transfer case.

ALSO:

The last area of concern is more of a precaution, not an installation mistake. After an Atlas was installed, we have seen
a couple of transfer cases that have experienced rear output shaft bearing failure. The Timkin bearings require custom
shimming for each Atlas built. The tolerance is .001” which is the recommendation from Timkin. The units we’ve seen​

failure on have been new installations (having less than 10 to 20 miles on the unit) and in a vehicle that was flat-towed.


NOTE: We are shipping the Atlas back Monday for Advanced Adapters to look at it.

 

[jgb]

I don't think the front driveshaft angle would be a problem unless it spins in 2wd...

I have manual locking hubs so the only time the front driveshaft would spin in 2WD is when I have the front hubs locked, so I can shift into 4WD high or in this case shift into front wheel drive high "on the fly".

 

[Herzog]

Sounds to me like the output shaft on the transmission was jammed into the atlas putting too much pressure on the input bearing and a lot of pressure on the transmission housing from mounting it up like that.

 

[jgb]

Sounds to me like the output shaft on the transmission was jammed into the atlas putting too much pressure on the input bearing and a lot of pressure on the transmission housing from mounting it up like that.

It is an either or. Either the Atlas jammed due to an Atlas problem or the Atlas jammed due to an improper installation.

If it was an Atlas issue I am screwed out of a lot of money. From their warranty:

The lifetime and limited guarantees are voided (as determined by Advance Adapters Inc.) by misuse, abuse, improper maintenance, or alterations of the product. These guarantees do not cover any labor, shipping, normal wear, or any other unforeseen event that may occur due to failure of a unit.

The installer by his own admission "altered" the product. And I will be out the cost of labor, shipping, a new transmission housing, and a new driveshaft.

If it was due to improper installation, I will have to see what the local off road shop says and what they will "cover".

Either way, I will be out my truck for the next who knows how many more weeks. Of course I have not had it much this year to begin with. That is another story.....

 

[Herzog]

Please do report back when you get the results from either AA and/or the installer. It will be interesting to know what ultimately caused the failure.

 

[Chevycrew]

If it was installer error, it should be 100% covered.

If it was an atlas problem, you get a new case and lose the install $$$.

Worst case, starting over with nothing.

 

[Bobzilla]

I once had a similar experience with Neapco u-joint that snapped the yoke and did almost the same thing destroyed the transmission??? I found that some of the Napa u-joints did not have a grove in the cap or the cross so the lube would not push through the cross into the bearings in the cap.

So the u-joint blew on me on Soldier Summit going 50-60 MPH just exploded the transmission on my 89 Chevy Blazer, was not pretty, and I didn't get shit out of Napa in Grand Junction, just a 400.00 towing bill and a rebuilt transmission bill, it sucked.
Was really weird I would look at the cap and cross for the lube groove machined into the u-joint, sorry to hear that sucks.

 

[cheepin]

I once had a similar experience with Neapco u-joint that snapped the yoke and did almost the same thing destroyed the transmission??? I found that some of the Napa u-joints did not have a grove in the cap or the cross so the lube would not push through the cross into the bearings in the cap.

So the u-joint blew on me on Soldier Summit going 50-60 MPH just exploded the transmission on my 89 Chevy Blazer, was not pretty, and I didn't get shit out of Napa in Grand Junction, just a 400.00 towing bill and a rebuilt transmission bill, it sucked.
Was really weird I would look at the cap and cross for the lube groove machined into the u-joint, sorry to hear that sucks.

These are the stronger U-joints.And you are suppose to take them apart and grease them every so often.You should have seen there were no holes or grooves when you did the install.I don't see how you can blame Napa for your ignorance.

 

[BenHanksRacing1]

Well I don't want to throw anyone under the bus BUT it sounds like a install problem. Did you have a good shop do it ? And have you talked to them about it ? If you need some help let us know. Sorry to hear

 

[jgb]

Well I don't want to throw anyone under the bus BUT it sounds like a install problem. Did you have a good shop do it ? And have you talked to them about it ? If you need some help let us know. Sorry to hear

PM sent.

 

[Bart]

Well I don't want to throw anyone under the bus BUT it sounds like a install problem. Did you have a good shop do it ? And have you talked to them about it ? If you need some help let us know. Sorry to hear

Got to agree. I've never heard of a problem with an Atlas and I've had 5 of them.

 

[Devel]

Got to agree. I've never heard of a problem with an Atlas and I've had 5 of them.

if people didnt know that you get a new rig every 6 months that would look pretty bad

 

[jgb]

I just want to clarify, I just posted this thread to relate what happened, I am not accusing Advanced Adapters of putting out a shoddy product or accusing the shop of shoddy workmanship. But someting went wrong. I am going to have AA look at it and see what they say. If they (AA) finds fault with the unit I hope they have the integrity to own up to it and not falsely blame the installer. If they blame the installer I hope the shop accepts that decision and does me right. If the shop decides to fight AA, that leaves me stuck in the middle, with no truck for who knows how much longer.

 

[Milner]

My experiences with AA as a customer and on the retail end in the past, has always been very good. They have owned up to any problems they thought could have been theirs and fix a LOT of problems that were not their responsibility!

 

[Toad]

Any news

 

[TRNDRVR]

The installer by his own admission "altered" the product.

This is an issue that AA will stand on, and then it will get to be a civil issue between you and the installer.

I think in the end you're going to have a really expensive transfer case if you have your heart set on having an Atlas.

Either way I wish you luck.

 

[jgb]

Update

AA has had the TC for over a week, they say it "shifts" fine and "spins" freely. Of course they also confessed to using a brass hammer to hammer the shift linkages to make it shift, not using actual shift sticks. They also have not even opened the TC up to look inside. I have demanded that they do.

The tech guy I am dealing with is named Mario, not impressed with him or his lackadaisical attitude.

As far as the installer, we talked today regarding if AA says nothing is wrong with the TC. Then to me the failure is from the install. Not using a brace to support the extra weight. A brace was supplied by me but the installer said he could not use it because of the parking brake mounted on the output shaft. Then as an experienced fabricator he should have designed an alternate brace.

NOTE: Regarding my prior comment about the installer drilling and tapping some holes, this was NOT done to the TC mounting holes connecting the TC and transmission, causing them to be crammed together, the holes had something to do with the cable shifters or something.